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Overview of Honors Studies

The Honors College program stresses active student participation in the learning process by fostering collaboration, engagement, and discourse in small class settings. Honors courses are designed to help students to develop their critical thinking skills by emphasizing interdisciplinary study, academic research, and scholarly writing. Students begin the program by completing Freshman Honors Seminar during their first semester on campus. Throughout the first two years of study, students select additional honors courses from as many as twenty academic disciplines. These classes are offered by the senior instructors and researchers at the University and provide honors students with opportunities to begin working closely with faculty members early in their academic careers.

During the final two years of study, students complete interdisciplinary special topics courses and experiential learning opportunities unique to the Honors College. Students also have the opportunity to design and execute an Honors Distinction Project under the supervision of a senior faculty member in the major department. Recent distinction projects have included research theses, design and implementation of computer software programs, composition and performance of original music, and the publication of children’s literature. Distinction candidates may apply for Honors College research stipends and for funding to support the presentation of their original research at academic conferences. Many honors distinction projects are ultimately published in LOGOS: A Journal of Undergraduate Research and in discipline-specific journals.